“Just wait until you have a full-time job; it becomes so monotonous and annoying.”

“Just wait until you get married. You’ll see how hard it is!”

“Just wait until you’ve been married as long as I have; you won’t be excited to get home to your husband then!”

“Just wait until you have a kid; that’s when you really never get to sleep ever again!”

“Just wait until you have two kids. One kid is a cakewalk compared to having two.”

If ever there was a way to strike unnecessary fear into the soul of a person, using the phrase “Just wait until” is it. Let’s do better than this, fellow Christians. I know we can do better.

My hunch: Any person who uses this phrase doesn’t even realize what the words are revealing about his or her own heart.

Let’s think about our motivation when we use these words. Allow me to ask a few rhetorical questions, will ya’?: When we use this phrase, what is our objective? Is it to tear down the other person? Is it to brag about how much more we deal with than the other person? Is it to give advice?

I just want to really spell it out, here: This phrase used in this way is literally not an encouragement or help to anyone. It is not a way to build up another person. It is exactly the opposite: A way of tearing others down–a way to deflate another person.

As Christians, we should be encouraging one another, cheering for one another. When we spit out these words under the guise of a warning or an attempt to advise another, we are not encouraging one another.

Fellow Christians, when we use this phrase in this manner, we are being a poison to the hearer.

Sheesh, Rebecca, that seems harsh.

Remember? I’m speaking to myself, too.

We are essentially telling others to trade the treasuring of this moment to the fearing of the future, to expect to be married to someone for decades without really even enjoying them, to view children as merely a nuisance, to refuse to see opportunities as gifts from God himself, to dread the upcoming stage of life instead of embracing it and leaning into Jesus Christ who has saved us from evil.

I don’t want this type of speaking to be my legacy.

I have a sneaking suspicion you don’t either.

Sistas, hear me!

Now, let me speak to my Christian Sisters for a sec, mmk?

I truly believe that, at every stage of life, there is someone younger than us who can learn from us. We can teach our younger siblings (if we have any) just about anything when we’re kids; we can tutor elementary students when we’re in high school; we can lead outreach to high school students when we’re in college; we can minister to college students once we’ve graduated; we can coach engaged couples once we’re married; we can encourage newlyweds and new mothers after we’ve gone ahead of them and had these experiences. I, myself, have participated in almost all of these endeavors and count myself blessed to have been mentored by sweet Christian women who I admire and aspire to emulate to this day. And I have a mentor who I meet with regularly who encourages me to see how Jesus is pushing me and growing me, even when I just want to vent and complain.

Instead of teaching younger women to dread the challenges that can come with being part of a marriage, let’s encourage them to see the gift that a husband is and the joy that is experienced in treasuring that man exclusively for decades until death does them part.

Let’s encourage younger women to find professions that will not just provide the monetary needs of life, but help them serve the Lord–whether it’s in the work itself or in the ways she gets to minister to coworkers or even the ways she grows and becomes stronger in the faith through challenges that come with the job.

Let’s encourage younger women to see their children–current or future–as gifts instead of sleep-stealers or nuisances who ruin everything. And let’s encourage them to teach their children to love Jesus while we’re at it.

Let’s encourage women to experience the joy of giving their child one or more siblings, if they so choose, instead of selling a dooms-day gospel that everything will be terrible if they add a second child to the mix.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure there’s an equivalent message for men to encourage one another, too, but I am not in touch with how men speak to one another. Ya’ know, being a woman.

I exhort you, fellow Christians, to join me and consider making these changes–and changes like them–to interactions with other believers:

“Just wait until college. That’s when the real hard work begins.”

College is a great time full of challenges and hard work. Just like any stage of life, make sure that your pursuit of Jesus continues during those years.”

“Just wait until you have a full-time job; it becomes so monotonous and annoying.”

“Yeah, I’ve been working for 12 years; I’ve been fortunate to always have a job that God uses to provide what I need and then some. It’s important to be sure to find something you love doing and bring Jesus to work with you every day.”

“Just wait until you get married. You’ll see how hard it is!”

“Marriage is an unbelievable journey. It’s difficult to describe and, if you find a man who loves Jesus more than he loves you but loves you immensely in God-honoring ways, you should definitely take the opportunity to love and serve that man for the rest of your life!”

“Just wait until you’ve been married as long as I have; you won’t be excited to get home to your husband then!”

“Oh, you’re a newlywed and can’t wait to go home after work to see your husband? That’s so sweet and wonderful! Keep loving him well and keep putting Christ at the center of your marriage. A good marriage is a major blessing.”

“Just wait until you have a kid; that’s when you really never get to sleep ever again!”

“I really love my baby and I try to enjoy every moment that I can. I remember how frequently I learned more about God’s love for us when my baby was teensy weensy.”

“Just wait until you have two kids. One kid is a cakewalk compared to having two.”

Ha, I suggest we never say anything to anyone about having more children. But if they are close friends or the topic is at hand, you might get away with something like this, “There was a learning curve for us when we brought home baby number two, but there were so many sweet moments between my kiddos in those early days and I am glad I chose to focus on those when they were happening. Those moments were definitely gifts from God.”

Because when we use our words for God’s Good, The Gospel is strengthened.

I’m looking for [insert service or product or experience] at a reasonable price.

Raise your hand if you’ve seen or written something along these lines somewhere in your life. *raises hand* We mean well. We don’t want to waste money. As Christians, it’s wise to carefully spend our money–stewardship, we call it. I’ve noticed a huge movement toward getting out of debt. Have you? I’m definitely a part of this movement. The Hunk and I are making progress despite what can feel like continual setbacks. So, I’m in this boat: I want to save money. Gosh, wasting money drives me mad. Dang, the car needs a thousand dollar repair? Ugh. Wait, that repair did nothing to solve the situation? What the heck!? Yes, I’ve experienced this.

But I want us Christians to check our hearts when we ask for a “reasonably priced” service or product or experience.

Think about it. What does “reasonably priced” even mean? I don’t recall anyone ever saying, “I’m looking for a [service or product or experience] where I can blow my money wastefully. Anyone know where I can find that?”

I guess what I’m asking here is this: Is it necessary to say “reasonably priced”? Or could we start to make it simple: “Our air conditioner just went out. Anyone have any HVAC recommendations?” “We’re looking to remodel our kitchen. Anyone know someone who could do this for us?”

Not only should we do this in order to avoid stating the obvious–that we’re looking to save money–we should do this in order to respect the providers of services, products, and experiences.

Raise your hand if you have ever needed to earn money. *raises hand*

I suspect I’m not alone.

Now, I’m not saying we should go about our lives hiring and buying overpriced junk, hiring beginners at the price of the experienced, and overpaying for vacations. That’s simply an unwise way to steward our finances. Obviously. Be diligent in finding ways to make the funds God generously provides go as far as possible. But don’t shortchange the custom gown designer you seek for your special occasion. Let’s avoid skimping on the tip line when we’re at a restaurant. We should stop expecting the HVAC servicer to be so cheap that he can’t feed his family at home.

We should look at our budget and find ways we’re wasting our money and put a stop to it. And, man oh man, am I speaking to myself right now, too. Don’t waste money. Spend money. And respect others’ needs to support their families.

Matthew 7.12: Therefore, whatever you want others to do for you, do also the same for them, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

I had a hard conversation with a friend recently. She’s going through the stuff. Ugh. You know what I’m talking about. And it all piled on too high, complete with two hospital stays in one week. And we talked about how The Church has to be a safe haven for The Saints who need to recover. Who need to be made whole again. Who need restoration from the pains of the world.

Sure, the little things make us broken: breaking the speed limit, road rage, gossip, neglecting relationship with Christ, …things like that. But we’re broken in serious ways that we, as The Church, have to acknowledge. The divorced woman who had to leave her abusive husband, the recovering alcoholic who may break at any moment, the girl who has all but left the church in favor of the party scene–these are the brothers and sisters who need to be embraced, loved, and cared for.

The good news: Not only are we broken–we’re grafted into Christ.

In Romans 11, Paul uses an analogy that speaks to this issue. All of us are grafted into Christ if we believe in Him. We, therefore, can draw everything we need from Him. It’s not always quick. But we can pull what we need from the shoot that is Christ. Seek God for wisdom when helping the battered woman, the fallen brother or sister, the young couple struggling in their marriage. We can pull from the shoot that is Christ when we need to get out of our rut, when we need the wisdom to fix our marriage, work for a simply terrible boss, recover from abuse of all sorts.

My baby boy just loves to play with my watch. It lights up, has a screen that is touch sensitive, and lights up when it thinks I’m looking at it; he’s just fascinated by it.

Last week, he dug his thumb under it a few times. Wowee! That hurt! Mamma needed to clip those nails. So I did. He got a nail clipping that evening at bed time.

When I took a shower a few days ago, I noticed a sizable gash in my arm. Ya’ know, under my watch. And, it was infected. Like, mondo, mega-infected. I didn’t even realize The Little Hunk had ripped apart my skin. It was a surface scratch, I’d thought. But, it wasn’t. So, I grabbed our Neosporin and a Band-Aid and treated it post-shower. Sidenote: If you’re going to put a Band-Aid on your arm, be sure to shave off that arm hair first–especially if you ever want to remove said band-aid.

Anyway, for a few days, I repeated this treatment until the infection had subsided. And now there’s a simple scab under my watch.

Gosh, what a mega-reminder of our real-world problems, eh? Like, we barely realize that we have this problem: We’re broken, imperfect, failing, and messing up all the time. We just don’t recognize it because the rest of life is over-top of it; we don’t see it. We recognize pain, but the source–we just don’t recognize that the source is deep within us.

Unlike my treatment of the infected gash, Jesus’ treatment of our inherent ineptness is perfect. He died once and doesn’t have to do it again. He came back to life to defeat death (so we don’t have to die eternally) and we live forever.

I know it’s a sort of cliche verse, but it rings true. John 3.16 says that God loves us so much that He sent Jesus (his only son–who died and raised from the grave, by the way) so that we can live eternally. What. A. Cool. Treatment.

I’ll take that every day of the week and twice on Sunday. But I only need it once.

Last night, we played a little game over on the ol’ Facebook page. And y’all had some pretty good guesses! Some of you thought I had a make-over! Veneers, teeth-whitening, hair extensions… ha! Maybe I should add that to the list.

One of you suggested that I painted myself. Ha! um… not my thing.

Of course, a married woman can never ever play this guessing game without someone hoping the answer is that another baby is coming… And, no. I’m not pregnant.

But other business-related guesses were inspiring: I got a studio, I created an art gallery, shot a beautiful wedding (which I’ve done a lot already!), or got a new website or sponsorship.

But one of you actually guessed correctly. Amanda, you made ONE guess and it was correct!

Ladies and gentlemen, I’m delighted to present to you my new logo! Squeeeeee!

I actually have butterflies in my tummy about it! I’m so giddy with excitement! I love it! I contacted a fabulous design firm, told them what my business is all about (celebrating and preserving love and legacies), and I really felt like he listened to what I wanted out of a logo. If you zoom waaaaaaaay in, you’ll notice the confetti has some subtle shapes in it. Do you see them? I also took this opportunity to do what I’ve been wanting to do with my brand for a while: add another color! I absolutely LOVE pink. And gray has been my go-to accent color. But I wanted another color that was both bold and reflected me. And I love blue. So, my design man added in a pretty awesome blue. And there you have it! :) This was seriously overdue. I mean, as much as I enjoyed making my own logo, hiring someone was truly awesome and the experience was great! My design guy worked with me and kept tweaking my design about a billion times until I absolutely loved it. :) I’m so pumped!

Thanks for playing the guessing game, guys. Over the next few weeks, you’ll see me adding my new logo and colors to my branding. Slowly, but surely. I’m in love, I’m in love, and I don’t care who knows it!